Sajjan acquittal: AAP joins Sikh protest

In support of the Sikh community's protests over the acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday joined the hunger strike for a day at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi.

"We are joining hands with our Sikh brothers to protest against the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar. We will join the protest of the family of Nirpreet Kaur, who began her indefinite hunger strike from today (Friday)," Manish Sisodia, senior AAP member told IANS.

In solidarity with Kaur, AAP members Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sidoda, Gopal Rai, Sanjay Singh and Kumar Vishwas will also sit on a day's fast, and later continue to support her indefinite hunger strike.

Various Sikh groups have been on protest since Tuesday, ever since the verdict was pronounced.

On Thursday, they staged a protest at the residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Over 115 protesters were detained and later let off.

A day after the verdict, on Wednesday, protesters had blocked busy roads in the national capital. Metro services were also disrupted by the protests for a few hours.

The Sikh groups are angry that a city court acquitted Sajjan Kumar in a case related to the killing of five people in the Delhi Cantonment area during violence against Sikhs that followed the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi Oct 31, 1984.